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Inside SAP’s Scaled Customer Success Strategy ft. Carsten Schütz (SAP)
[Un]Churned – The No. 1 Podcast for Customer RetentionShow Notes
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In this episode of Unchurned, Jenny Calvert sits down with Carsten Schütz, VP & Global Head of Scaled CS at SAP, to talk about how modern CS teams must evolve to serve thousands of customers without losing the human touch.
Carsten shares how his journey from startup CSM to SAP executive reshaped his thinking about scale, specialization, and the real role of AI in customer success.
The conversation dives deep into why the traditional “hire more CSMs” model doesn’t work anymore, how AI agents can support the long tail of customers, and why product usage data—not just sentiment—is the future of customer health.
One of the biggest takeaways: AI isn’t replacing customer success. It’s enabling teams to finally support the majority of customers who currently receive little to no human interaction.
--- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 0:55 - Meet Carsten Schütz 4:25 - The real answer to the generalist vs specialist debate 6:20 - What customers actually want from their CSMs 7:57 - What makes a truly valuable QBR 9:18 - Why AI is essential for the 80% of customers at scale 11:08 - The importance of keeping the human touch 12:02 - Using AI to drive adoption, detect risk, and churn prevention 13:55 - Why product usage data is critical for customer health 16:28 - What CS leaders should look for when hiring today 19:04 - How AI is changing how younger professionals work 20:55 - “This is the worst AI will ever be.” 21:48 - Q4 renewal strategy and human connection 23:33 - Why in-person conferences still matter
--- What You’ll Learn * Why 80% of customers require a scalable CS strategy * Why the generalist vs specialist debate is the wrong question * How product usage data reveals hidden churn risks * Why CS teams must think beyond 1-to-1 engagement * How to scale digital engagement without losing human connection * Why the future of CS is human-first, AI-powered
--- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com.
--- Where to Find Carsten Schütz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carstenschuetz/
--- Where to Find Jenny: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycalvert/
--- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/
More from [Un]Churned – The No. 1 Podcast for Customer Retention
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Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com.
Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com.
Most companies think of customer success as a support function that ships software. The real shift is treating it as a co-build practice that ships outcomes.